Sera couldn't remember the last time she felt so satisfied. Probably after she stashed that nug in that one arse biscuit's closet, then hid outside the window. She reckoned the nug itself might have been in heat, for it kept squiggling on her arm like it was humping it, and kept making squeaks. Sera still remembers how the wife ran around their bedroom in her small clothes and saggy old lady tits flopping about, screaming at the arse biscuit to do something. Sera grins at the memory of when he'd finally caught the thing and nearly cried, for the nug bit the shite out of him, then proceeded to hump his calf... Rather rigorously so.
Nah, that was good, but this was waaaay better.
She burrowed her face deeper into Evelyn's neck as they lay together in the double bed inside her cabin, smiling softly when the human brought her hand up and cradled the back of her head. Her Shiny had made her see colors she didn't know existed, had perfectly kept her promise that it was worth the wait. Despite there being walls around them this time, Sera was almost positive that half of Haven had heard the sounds of their activities. The only difference was now they knew their Herald was the best lay Sera had ever had.
"You seem sated," Evelyn whispered in an amused tone, as her short nails scratched against Sera's scalp.
"Workin' on my second wind, that's all," Sera mumbled stubbornly, not willing to admit she was worn out.
"You mean your fourth wind?"
Both of them laughed at the joke, but it was very true. They'd taken quite a few hours of the late afternoon and early evening to get to this part. The elf found that this part could quite possibly be her favorite, just lying in her Shiny's arms and feeling her chest rise and fall with her breath. It wasn't like she ever cuddled after bedding a wench, but this was no ordinary fuck. Oh no, Evelyn was more, much more. The elf still couldn't decide if that were a good thing or not. As much as she liked Evelyn, she didn't forget the human was a noble; one in power, to boot. And with that thought of "Herald-y" things…
"Who was that in the tavern? The one you had to talk to?" Sera asked Evelyn, who chuckled.
"A mercenary that wants us to come see his company work on the Storm Coast."
Sera rolled over on her back, her head turning on the pillow to look at her lover. "He looked… young? Maybe. I noticed him when he walked into Flissa's. Something's off about him. Dunno what, though."
Evelyn laughed, and Sera swatted her lightly, frowning at the reaction when she was being serious. "Imp, he's… a special kind of guy. I doubt he'll ever need to shave his face, and I don't think his voice will ever grow deeper. But otherwise he seemed earnest enough. I think it will be fine."
Sera's face scrunched up with the half-assed explanation Evelyn had given. "What do you mean… oh."
"Exactly," Evelyn confirmed with a nod. "But I think it is polite to refer to him the way he obviously would like to be. His name is Krem. He seems decent enough, even if I thought his eyes were going to fall out of his head while he was looking at everything I have to offer up on the hill by Leliana's tent."
"Wait… what?" Sera lifted her head as Evelyn gave a shrug, a cocky grin on her face.
"He got an eyeful of all of this," she said teasingly, indicating her bare torso.
Sera's eyes followed the path the assassin's hand gestured, taking in what Evelyn was saying and finding her old friend Jealousy was sniffing the air. "He best well just look, this is all mine." She trailed a hand down Evelyn's chest and traced around the swell of her breasts, then up the side before pinching a dark pink nipple lightly.
Evelyn bit her lip as Sera bent forward and started kissing her way down the path her hand had taken, but Evelyn still had to make a quip.
"I can't help that I'm the second sexiest thing on this side of Thedas."
She hissed when her nipple was pulled into a warm mouth and sucked lightly, and Sera gave her a small grin when the archer looked up to meet Evelyn's eyes.
"The second sexiest thing?" Sera asked for clarification, and Evelyn's grin grew wider.
"I do have a twin, you know," she goaded the elf, earning herself an eye roll and another swat. "I'm kidding," she said as if it were obvious. She rolled over and braced herself on her hands over Sera, her eyes raking down the elf's thin frame and back up again. "You're definitely the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, my imp."
Heat flushed Sera's face, and she reached up to pull Evelyn's face down to hers, kissing her thoroughly for the compliment despite the slight embarrassment she felt. Over a month of knowing the human and hearing the praise from her lips had not softened the effect of her words; they still made her feel a flutter in her belly, still made her blush, still made her speechless. It wasn't merely the words themselves—words didn't mean shite to her–but the fact that Evelyn's eyes told her that the woman believed every bit of what she was saying. She really saw the elf, and liked what she saw.
"Honey tongue," Sera murmured affectionately, shaking her head at Evelyn when they parted a few moments later. "Gonna make my face melt or something just as stupid."
"You certainly seemed to like my tongue an hour ago," the woman laughed, making Sera smile at the innuendo.
"Mmm… And I'm gonna like it again here in just a minute," she retorted; Sera pulled Evelyn flush against her and opened her legs when the human rogue shifted between them.
"So, I guess this means I'm not 'a lot of pretty talk', anymore?" Hips rolled into Sera with the question, and Sera's head went back with the jolt of pleasure that spiked through her from the action.
"Pfft!" Sera hissed weakly, she wasn't able to put any sort of conviction into what was very much a lie. "I haven't seen much, yet."
"Uh huh," Evelyn deadpanned, not believing her for a second. "So those scratch marks on my back appeared there all by themselves, did they?"
"I dunno know what you're talkin' about, Shiny." The elf feigned innocence that was quickly broken, when Evelyn nipped her neck where it joined her shoulder.
"That so?" Lips traced the shell of her right ear, making Sera shiver with the almost ticklish sensation. "I guess I'm just going to have to remind you."
Maker, yeah, do that…
As if she needed reminding. But that didn't stop her from enjoying the attentions Evelyn showered on her for an indeterminable amount of time, from kissing every inch of her skin to making the headboard of the bed knock against the wall repeatedly; that is until someone banged on the door loudly, interrupting what was going to be a fantastic end to an eventful night.
Evelyn paused in her thrusts to glance over at the door, then back down at the girl on hands and knees with a perky ass jutting up at her; Evelyn's fingers still remained buried inside, and warm walls squeezed to remind her. Sera threw a murderous look over her shoulder, wordlessly conveying that she would kill Evelyn if she stopped now to open that door. Evelyn didn't pull out of her and merely shrugged, going right back to pounding the elf out of her mind, faster than ever before. The headboard continued to slam against the cabin's weathered wall, the painting beside the bed shook from the vibrations.
The person at the door knocked again, even louder. This time there was a voice.
"Herald! Some people here have to sleep, and don't want to listen to you rut with that knife-ear all night!"
Both women froze at the man's words, and the voice was easily recognizable. It was Seggrit, the sole merchant in town. Before Sera could say a word, Evelyn was off the bed; the rogue wrestled on her discarded pants and pulled a tunic overhead, clutching one of her daggers in a tight fist.
"Shiny–" Sera tried to call out, but the door was already opened; Evelyn was halfway out before Sera could even pull her smock overhead to follow the assassin practically steaming with murderous intent.
Seggrit had already retreated to his cabin next door by the time both of them made it out into the snow. Evelyn kicked the door in and strode inside barefooted, and Sera jogged up to the doorway just in time to see Seggrit standing there with a vivid glare as he assessed the woman, obviously not believing her to anything more than bluster.
"Would you care to reiterate what you just said?" Evelyn slid her knife behind in the waistband of her leather pants where the merchant couldn't see; Sera knew without a doubt that the assassin could pull it out so quickly, that it may as well still be in her hand. The tone in which Evelyn asked him to repeat –at least Sera assumed it meant repeat– his words gave her chills, and not in a good way.
"I'm bloody well trying to kip, and all I can hear is that beast whore of yours–" he wasn't allowed to say anything else; Evelyn grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into a beam in the center of his cabin, her dagger pressed flat against the side of his head, behind his left ear.
Sera was so caught up in how Evelyn was reacting that the archer couldn't take in that he was insulting her, and hadn't processed it to be pissed off. She'd been called a knife-ear her whole life, it was like someone saying she was a blonde. But calling her a beast whore? That's a new one, she thought to herself. She's actually sort of amused.
"I think you should seriously consider your next words, old man." Evelyn hissed through her teeth, eyes alight with a fury that Sera hadn't ever seen until now. "Because if I don't like them, I will slice off your fucking ear. Apologize to her. Now."
"HELP ME!" Seggrit screamed as loud as the hand around his throat would allow, which was just enough that Sera heard multiple sets of feet start running in their direction, crunching in the snow.
"Wrong fucking words, dick," Evelyn said icily, pressing the knife in harder. A thin stream of blood trickled down his neck, staining the collar of his white night shirt in crimson, and he began to sob. "One more chance, given to you by Andraste herself. Apologize. To. Sera."
His eyes moved from Evelyn's face to Sera, who was still just inside the doorway, frozen in shock. "I'm s-sorry," he stammered, tears running down his face. Evelyn let go of him and took a step back with a disgusted look on her face, watching him as he collapsed into a shaking mess on the floor of his cabin, hand over the cut behind his ear.
"If you ever call her –or any elf– a knife-ear again, your ear won't be the only thing I cut off of your body, do you understand?" Evelyn wiped the blood off her blade onto his shoulder before sliding it back in the waist band of her pants just as several Inquisition soldiers and Leliana appeared behind Sera.
"What is going on in here?" Leliana asked immediately, keen eyes scanning all three occupants, and narrowing when they fell on the crying man on the floor. "Herald? What happened?"
Evelyn turned around to face Leliana, a sour look on her face. "Ask him. I need to go for a walk before I change my mind and slit his fucking throat." She looked down at Seggrit, who flinched away when she took a step towards him. "And you better tell her the truth, you sorry waste of air."
"I will! I s-swear! Just d-don't come any c-closer," he begged, his sobs loud and irritatingly whiny.
Sera followed Evelyn out of the cabin, still in shock. No one had ever stuck up for her, especially not like that. She still couldn't believe her Shiny had done it. Evelyn stopped just outside the cabin and turned to look at her, ignoring the small crowd now gathering around Seggrit's open door.
"I'm sorry, imp…" Her tone was surprisingly gentle, for she misconstrued Sera's expression as fear of her. "I shouldn't have–"
Sera surged forward and hugged her tightly, eyes closing as she felt arms come around her. "No one has ever stood up for me like that," she whispered, and Evelyn sighed in relief that the archer wasn't upset.
"You're not angry or… scared of me?"
Sera shook her head, still clutching to her Shiny. "Don't go walking off barefooted in the snow, you daft tit. You'll lose your toes."
Leliana came out of Seggrit's and gave a sharp jerk of her head towards Evelyn's cabin, and the human rogue extracted herself from Sera's embrace; she took the elf's hand instead and intertwined their fingers together, walking to the cabin as Leliana requested. Once inside, Sera let go to put a log on the dying fire while the spymaster interrogated Evelyn. "You cut him because he interrupted you, asking you to be a little more quiet?"
Sera stood up straight, giving a wide-eyed look at her lover; she was half scared Evelyn would bolt out of the door and drag the man back here to tell Leliana the full truth. But Evelyn didn't move for the door, though her features tinted red and her upper lip pulled back in a sneer.
"That's not why," she spat angrily. "He said, 'rut with that knife-ear.' I'm sorry I caused a stir, but I am not sorry for what I did. After I asked him to repeat himself, he called her a 'beast whore', that's when I put my dagger to his ear and made him apologize to her." She scoffed, waving a hand in the air as if chasing off a bothersome fly. "He's lucky he's alive after that, Leliana."
The spymaster's mouth pressed into a thin line. "He failed to mention that bit."
Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I thought he might. Don't worry, as long as he stays the fuck away from me and my imp, and I don't hear him call another elf dumbass names, I won't kill him."
Leliana gave a weary sigh and touched her forehead beneath her hood. "Josephine and I have tried very hard to keep the racial slurs at a minimum. As you can imagine, I'm rather sensitive about that phrase, as well."
"Why?" Sera nearly jumped out of her skin when Leliana's eyes turned to her, and she realized it was she who had asked the question without thinking. Leliana actually scared the shite out of her. The woman was Knifey Shivdark in the flesh, and Sera always gave the woman a wide berth when they were in Haven because of the fact.
"Because my wife is an elf," she answered simply, and not unkindly. "She never cared what others called her, but it has always been a thorn in my side to hear others berate her for the shape of her ears."
Sera hid her surprise at hearing that Leliana was married, and to an elf, for that matter. She'd heard rumors that the bard was once shagging the Hero of Ferelden, but surely that couldn't be the same elf? Could it? Back when Sera was a kid, she knew of Kallian Tabris; Sera even remembered seeing her drunk with her cousin Shianni, of course it had to be by that blighted tree in the middle of the alienage.
But… That laid back, carefree elf couldn't possibly be married to the secret-holding Left Hand… could she?
"Speaking of Grey Wardens," Leliana began, "I talked to that mercenary from the Chargers. Varric brought him to meet with me after you were dragged out of the tavern." Sera purposely avoided the gaze she could feel on her again, and put an –unnecessary– additional log into the fireplace instead. "I've heard of them, and never anything negative. If they're on the Storm Coast, that's advantageous to us. My investigation of the Wardens has led me to that very place; Scout Harding has sent me reports of Warden activity, and I would like it to be investigated further."
She is married to Tabris! Andraste's flaming ladybits!
"We'll definitely look into it while we're there," Evelyn said agreeably, nodding her head. "We'll set out as soon as we can in the morning."
Leliana's eyes glittered with mischief. "So I trust that you'll actually get some sleep now?"
Sera coughed when a lump shot to her throat, but Evelyn laughed it off. "Yeah, I think that bastard killed the mood tonight. I'll see you shortly after dawn."
Killed the mood? Pfft, I was gonna shag your friggin' tits off after she left.
But after Leliana had bid them a good night and closed the door behind her, and they were back in bed, Evelyn just held her. Oddly enough, Sera was fine with it. There was just one thing she needed to know.
"Shiny?" Sera whispered, biting her lip.
"Imp?" Evelyn whispered back, stroking the side of her face.
"Were you really gonna cut off his ear?"
"Do you really have to ask me that?"
Sera grinned, tightening her arm around Evelyn's waist. "Guess not. You would've done it."
Evelyn sighed heavily, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I'd have done more than that, honestly. No one will ever hurt you again, I swear it."
The Deep Roads, somewhere between Ortan Thaig and Orzammar
"And to that degree he stood and did decreeeeee– that all was lost so unbearably!" Kallian spun in a circle in the halls of the palace in Orzammar as she belted out the song, having felt the cups go to her head before she and Leliana had stolen away from the celebrations being had in the dining room. "Then the soldiers were mad, the wives were sad, but there was no glory to be had–!" she sang loudly as she spun her way to their quarters.
"–for Jadyn had stolen the love of the lad!" She and Leliana finished the song together, Kallian snickered loudly as she nudged the bard's side with her elbow.
"Dwarves sure know how to throw a party," Kallian sighed happily, making Leliana giggle.
"They are certainly festive," she agreed; Kallian knew the bard was thinking of Orlais and their infamous grand balls.
"Not enough masks and ill disguised politics for you, my love?" The elf teased her silly shemlen lover, earning herself a smirk and a light slap on the upper arm.
"The Game is an art, you know," Leliana said with a mysterious tone. "And no one plays higher stakes than Orlais."
"Bloody well good, I love betting my life away on the actions of people I can't control," Kallian drawled sarcastically, and the bard laughed.
"Oh, but who said you can't control the actions of others, hmm? I did not." Leliana gave a smile to the abashed look Kallian gave her, and reached for the smaller woman's hand as they drew near to their assigned quarters.
"Well, throw me a bone here, so I can control the eyes I saw glued to your arse all night in the dinner hall," Kallian retorted; she reached between them with her free hand, and swatted at the subject of so much attention. "I'd rather all of Bhelen's thugs keep their fuckin' eyes where the Maker put 'em to begin with."
"Oho, says the duelist that had half the Warrior Caste salivating at the mouth when you entered -and won- the celebration tourney earlier today." Leliana shot back with a smug grin, squeezing the fingers entwined with her own. "Makes me wonder who you were showing off for," she went on with a dramatic sigh, covering her heart with her free hand.
"That cutie patootie from the Shaperate, of course!" Kallian quipped smoothly, earning a slap to the back of the head, both women laughing. Kallian only showed off for one person, and was walking with her now. But to be honest, after those weeks in the Deep Roads, it just felt good to be back in civilization and in the light of a lamp. She'd never been afraid of the dark before, but she and Leliana had left the candles lit the two previous nights here in the palace, not needing to discuss why.
Kallian opened the door to the room, allowing Leliana to enter first, then glanced around the empty hallway to make sure they weren't being followed. The moment the door was shut and the lock was slid into place, Kallian found herself spun around and her back pressed hard against the door while a mouth covered over hers. Leliana tasted of dwarven mead and something else, something sweet that Kallian could never figure out despite the many kisses they'd shared. The frenzy of the kiss slowly tapered off into a lazy pace, Kallian pushed off the door and –without pulling away– had walked Leliana backwards towards the bed. She fumbled for the strap buckles of her plate mail to loosen them, her cuirass hung limply over her small frame and she reached to untie the thong of her leather breeches. She'd been in armor since she'd awoken in this very chamber that morning, and she was sick of the weight of it and her inability to feel the woman in her arms against her flesh.
Pulling away just before Leliana's knees hit the bed, Kallian pulls the chest piece over her head and let it clatter to the floor where she stood, looking at Leliana with an amused expression in her electric blue eyes. "Was that jealousy, Leliana? Over someone that isn't Morrigan?" She teased her, watching as her lover also began to loosen and lose pieces of her armor.
"No, just reminding you that you're spoken for, no matter how cute the dwarves are." Leliana lilted cheerfully, ignoring the jab about Morrigan altogether.
"How could I forget when I come home to such… utter fuckin' perfection," Kallian breathed, eyes devouring everything Leliana put on display for her as the armor fell away to reveal the skin beneath. "Maker, you're beautiful."
"Hush," Leliana whispered with a shake of her head once she'd shed everything she'd worn. She stepped forward with her hands outstretched, reaching for the tail of the tunic that Kallian wore beneath her armor and pulling it over her head, the last thing the elf wore. "You have no right to call me beautiful when I'm standing beside you." Her eyes, a lighter blue than Kallian's own, scanned over the tanned landscape of Kallian's sinewy torso, focusing on her navel. "Especially with that adorable bellybutton."
Kallian scoffed in disagreement, but the tint of red in her cheeks told Leliana that the compliment hit home. Leliana backed up to the bed and sat herself on the edge, pulling Kallian forward so that the warden was standing between her knees. She grinned up at the elf before she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the adorable navel, causing a jerk behind it that ran directly down to the apex of the warden's thighs. Kallian's breath hitched with the sensation, and Leliana's eyes opened to see the elf staring down at her in near amazement. A tongue flickered out of the bard's mouth, tracing around the edge of the impression, then sucked the flesh around it into her mouth and drew a low moan out of Kallian. The warden's fingers came up and tangled in red hair as Leliana continued to kiss her stomach, the muscles trembling and rolling with every caress of the more experienced woman's mouth, that slight pounding feeling in her veins beginning to center in her groin.
"Maker, your mouth…" Kallian hissed, flinching when sharp canines nipped at the bottom of her ribcage and hands started to slide up her thighs. She pushed Leliana away gently, urging her down on her back as Kallian straddled her lap; the elf bent down to reciprocate those kisses, and ran her tongue up the soft flesh of Leliana's belly. "I'm not the only one with a rather erotic belly," Kallian lilted playfully as her fingers danced up Leliana's sides, bringing them around to rub down her entire midriff. The muscles in the bard's stomach reacted just as her own, and Kallian found herself mesmerized by the patterns of the waves, tickling the flesh just to watch it move under her command.
The contrast of her darker complexion on Leliana's pale skin was another aphrodisiac for her. It marked her days working in the alienage in the sun, making runs through the city and back throughout the days; and Leliana's movement by night, like a lark in the darkness. It was like finding the answer to her sun kissed skin in the moon licked porcelain of Leliana's flesh.
"So beautiful," she murmured, her eyes sliding up to Leliana's face.
"Keep touching me," Leliana whispered, slowly rolling her hips up into Kallian to set a pace for the elf; Kallian shuddered from the combination of the words and the feel of the thrust between her own legs, her own hips rolling back without her telling them to. She brought her hands back to Leliana's stomach, rubbing the flat of her palms up it, loving the little whimper she made in response. The bard's hips still moved beneath Kallian, who rode the movement without complaint; she noticed how Leliana's eyes were stuck to the way her belly rolled when her hips bucked against hers.
"You really like my stomach?" The question brought Leliana's eyes up to meet Kallian's, the older woman blushing slightly as she nodded.
"It's the sexiest thing I've ever seen," Leliana admitted and bit her lip again, reaching down and running her fingers down the length of Kallian's middle as the elf slowly rocks against her lap. Goosebumps exploded all over the elf's body and a flutter of pleasure rolled through her, making her breath hitch again. Leliana looked back up at the warden with a sheepish expression as she murmured, "I know it's… Strange. But I really like looking at you while you do this, and watch how you move."
"You sound like you have a cock, love," Kallian laughed, and leaned forward on her elbows to place her mouth on the bard's lower belly.
Leliana bucked upwards when Kallian nipped her, hissing between pressed lips. "Sometimes I wish I had," she panted, and threaded her fingers through unkempt hair to keep the warden over one particular spot near her hip bone.
Kallian looked up at her without moving her mouth away, smiling with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Let's get one like Isabela had," she said against the bard's skin, kissing her there as punctuation.
Leliana grinned back in much the same way. "Oh?" She breathed, tugging on Kallian's mane of umber hair to pull the elf's face up to hers. "I did so enjoy having you that deep inside of me, ma cherie." The statement was whispered directly into the warden's sensitive ear, a nip on the long edge sent shivers through her again.
"Keep talking like that and I'm going to conveniently forget what foreplay is," Kallian warned; she leaned her hips away enough to fit a hand beneath herself, and teasingly touched Leliana's sex.
The bard chuckled huskily and brushed her mouth against Kallian's ear when the elf kissed down her neck; Leliana let loose a string of flowing Orlesian –knowing that the warden didn't catch a single intelligible syllable in the midst– but nevertheless goaded a reaction. Kallian squeezed her thighs around the bard's, grinding down hard. Maybe the elf didn't understand the words, but the tone was unmistakable; and in her distracted state, she didn't realize Leliana was flipping their positions until it was done, and Kallian looked up instead of down.
Leliana reached beneath the warden to lift and scoot her further up on the large bed, then crawled up the feather mattress to drape herself over the smaller girl. She nestled a thigh between Kallian's legs while pulling one of the elf's between hers, and lips met again as Leliana started to move against the warden; the firm surface of the thigh nudged into her just right, making her back arch and her hands clutch at Leliana's shoulders as they moved.
But then Leliana did something that threw her completely off… The bard started to lick her face. "What are you doing?" Kallian laughed, jerking her face away. "That's weird, even for you."
But Leliana didn't answer and just kept licking at her face, bumping her jaw with her nose.
"Leliana!" Kallian couldn't take this seriously at all.
"BARK!"
…
The sound of a deep bark came out of the red head, and Kallian gradually came to realize she was dreaming… The next lick came from reality, Little's tongue as soggy and long as it had always been.
"Tabris, you've got to quit all that moanin' and groanin' and wake up. 'Spawn are coming," came a gruff voice from her left; she opened her eyes and sat up quickly, wide awake at the word "spawn."
Kallian shoved her mabari off of her chest, and the dog trotted to the foot of her bedroll next to Oghren, who was looking at her with an amused grin. "She was tryin' to warn ye," he said fondly, giving the hound a pat on her massive head. "But ye were so deep in lala land with that bard o' yers that ye started tellin' her she was weird."
Kallian ignored her dwarven friend's observation, pulling herself up to her feet and drawing her twin short swords. "How long?" She asked him, and he gave a noncommittal grunt.
"Mebbe two minutes. Still not used to ye not bein' able to hear 'em yerself."
"Yeah, well, get used to it, old man." Kallian sighed, eyes scanning the blackness ahead of them. "Not planning to catch the taint again, now that it's gone." She gave him a devilish grin. "My dreams are much better these days."
"Wouldn't know anything 'bout dreamin', but I do know these sons o' bitches are coming up now. Ye ready, Tabris? Ye can tell me all about that dream o' yers when they're dead."
"Just because I'm not a Warden anymore doesn't mean I forgot how to kill these fuckers," she growled, eyes narrowing at him. "And apparently you do know how to dream, because if you think I'm giving you details, you must be having one for yourself for once, dwarf."
"Don' talk 'bout it, girl. Jus' do it," he answered gleefully as a genlock appeared out of the tunnel they needed to travel through, when this fight was finished. He raised his ax and brought it down hard on the thing's head, cleanly cleaving it in two. "Tha's one fer me."
A ferocious snarl ripped out of her dog as Little rushed forward into the small cluster of darkspawn that followed the genlock, a howl of victory ripping free as she downed two at once, tearing their throats out. Kallian blocked the sword of another genlock as it hurled itself at her with its tainted teeth bared, then used the momentum from the impact to push her right hand sword into its torso, and whipped her left arm around to take its head off its neck.
They were lucky, only a dozen or so in this group, and none an emissary. They were disposed of easily enough, and Kallian had only gotten a small nick from a blade on her neck. She carefully took off her gloves while Oghren looted the bodies for whatever these creatures carried, lying them to the side so she could check her wound with hands clean of darkspawn blood. If the tiniest amount touched broken flesh, she was done for and she was well aware of it.
That was the worst part about being free of the taint: that she could be infected again, and no Joining was going to save her. She was lucky in the regard that they were on the final leg of this years long expedition, and were expecting to see the lights of Orzammar any day now…
If the maps were right.
They'd been through what was left of Ortan Thaig, a place that held bitter memories for both Oghren and herself; now they came back up a side road to avoid the tunnel collapse that they –along with Alistair, Leliana, Shale, Sten, Zevran, Morrigan, and Wynne– had caused eleven years before. If Kallian's memory served her right, they would be coming into Legion territory within the next few hours. It would be all she could do to not kiss those bearded bastards, when she'd catch sight of their camp on the Orzammar border in the Deep Roads.
She was sick of darkspawn, sick of the blue light cast by the natural lyrium veins, sick of the heat from rivers of magma, sick of the blackness that pressed around her whenever they hid from hordes that they had no chance of surviving. She was sick of feeling a fear of being tainted again, that all of the pain of the past four and a half years would be for nothing. She was scared she'd never see Leliana again.
Little came up beside her and Kallian gave her a nod of approval, slipping back into her gloves to give her a pat on her graying muzzle. Kallian tried not to think about it, but it was obvious that her best friend was getting older, though she was still spry for a mabari that was thirteen years old or better. She wanted to have Little out of the Deep Roads before the unthinkable happened, and wanted to be able to give the dog a few years of well-deserved rest before she passed on in her age. If things kept up the way they were, then she would have that chance soon enough.
"Let's get movin' before we don't," Oghren said, lifting his leg and giving a loud fart. Kallian was used to this from him, but it made her smile every time he did it just because she could still hear Leliana and Morrigan both gag in the back of her mind. "I'm ready fer a real drink and a whore, meself. This mushroom piss I've been drinkin' is tearin' me up."
The good ol' days.
"After you, Warden Commander," Kallian said with a graceful bow to the half-drunk dwarf, who snorted comically at the use of his official title.
"Ye might not wanna be downwind at the mo," he said, lifting his gear pack onto his back over his ax. "I got another bun cookin' in the oven. Ruddy mushrooms."
Kallian didn't have to be told twice. "Come on, girl," she said to Little, who took point right away, nose to the ground and ears up. "Orzammar, remember? Bhelen, the dwarf you puked on?" The answering huff from the mabari made her giggle.
"Aw, come on! I thought it was funny. Dogs aren't meant to taste dwarven ale. It isn't like the weak shemlen piss we share." Little stopped long enough to look back with a withering stare at her master before cantering on, and Kallian felt her spirits rise with every step the three companions took.
Leliana, I'm on my way home.
But then Oghren stopped and grasped his head, making a loud grunt.
"You all right back there?" She squinted back at his silhouette in the dim light of the lyrium veins, seeing him slightly bow over before straightening up again.
He shrugged, shaking his head slowly. "I… have a headache. It'll pass."
Kallian stared at him for a moment, sensing that there was something he wasn't telling her. "Oghren…"
"I said it's fine, didn't I? Keep walkin', I gotta get out of these Roads. Startin' to mess with my head."
Kallian wanted to press him about what he meant, but he was suddenly in one of his ill moods, and she didn't want to start an argument with the berserker. She merely looked at him without speaking, until he made an impatient gesture that caused her to sigh and move on. But she kept an eye on him after that.
Something wasn't right.
Storm Coast
Scout Lace Harding was the first familiar sight Evelyn's eyes fell upon, when they came up on a camp with Inquisition banners raised. The freckled dwarf almost resembled a drowned rat in the steady downpour of rain, but the look of relief on her face contradicted the misery she must have felt. Her green eyes were bright as she smiled at the approaching party, giving a wave of greeting.
"Welcome to the Storm Coast, for what it's worth." She spoke cheerfully to Evelyn, who let Sera slide off the horse and follow her down. "But hey– no undead this time!"
"Lovely weather we're having, ain't it? If you ask me, the no undead part is just as good as a ray of sunshine." Evelyn joked sarcastically as her eyes scanned past Harding, and over the edge of the cliff overhang the camp was settled on; there was a roar of a high dragon that shook the air, and she felt a thrill of fear run through her. It must have been clear from her expression.
Harding looked over her shoulder just in time to see the massive reptilian beast fly close enough to see it's silhouette in the clouds. "Ah, don't worry about her. She hasn't bothered us a bit."
"Don't worry about the dragon, she says," Evelyn muttered, shaking her head. She'd never faced one, and the only one she'd seen up close had chased them for a mile in the Hinterlands before turning wing back to its nest. She could still smell the smoke when she thought about it.
"That soldier that came ahead of you," Harding said, catching her attention again, "went down that path right there." She pointed towards a well beaten walking path between the rocks, too narrow to take their horses through. "He said that his company would be on the beach, waiting to attack that Venatori pocket, and you'd do well to hurry once you arrived… Handsome, isn't he?" She blushed when she voiced this observation of Krem.
"Bit pushy, if you ask me," Sera mumbled sullenly; she brushed her wet hair back from her forehead, and peered down the path indicated. Evelyn knew the elf hadn't forgotten that Krem had given her the eyeball when they met.
"If you want, I can ask him if he's into cute dwarves, Lace." Evelyn chuckled as she shot the blushing girl a wink and making Sera giggle mischievously. Harding paled, but before she could deter the two rogues, the Seeker spoke over them.
"At least he told us where he was going so we aren't walking up and down the beach all day," Cassandra groused from behind them, allowing a soldier to lead her horse to the tie post. "This rain is deplorable."
"I have to head back to Haven," Harding said with a weary sigh, choosing not to respond to the Herald's tease. "I've got another assignment to start, tradin' all of this rain for a bunch of snow, instead. Best of luck to you, finding those Wardens with these bandits in the area. We sent a group out to speak with their leader; never heard anything back, though."
"I'll look into it, Lace. Thank you. Safe travels on the way back." Evelyn gave her a salute that the dwarf returned, then Harding went off to find her pony and mount up.
Evelyn turned to face the companions that had elected to travel with her: Cassandra, Blackwall, Sera, and Solas. Varric had remained in Haven because of his own business, and Vivienne would have come along had Evelyn requested it of her. But Evelyn had still barely even spoken to the mage, still not finding her political bullshit nor her arrogant attitude palatable.
"I suppose we're merely here to observe. Hang back a bit, unless it looks like they need the back up. I don't want to insult the man before I even meet him," Evelyn said decidedly, and she received no complaint from her party. "Let's go meet the new guys."
By the time they'd reached the beach where Krem had instructed them to go, they need not have worried at all about being back up. The pebbles were covered in dark red blood that was gently being washed away with every gentle lap of the sea against them, and the bodies of the hosts strewn about. A group of what looked to be about ten men were already scuttling from body to body, pulling short dirks across each throat to ensure they were indeed dead when they'd fallen.
Towering over them all was a behemoth of a man, with a chest and shoulders so broad that Evelyn briefly wondered if he could even fit through most doorways. That said nothing of his impressive height or the set of horns on his head, long and horizontal from their base, with slightly upturned tips that indeed gave him the appearance of a steer. His ax strapped across his massive back was taller and probably heavier than Evelyn herself. There was no mistaking the identity of the qunari. This was who she'd come to meet.
"Krem!" he was bellowing as Evelyn made her way through the dead towards him. "We lose anyone?"
"Nah, Chief," Krem called back from fifty feet down the beach, his tenor carrying over the crashing of the waves against the shore. "Five or six wounded, none dead!"
"That's what I like to hear!" Iron Bull called back jovially. "As soon as you're done cutting throats, open up those casks. You've all earned it!"
He turned around just as the Inquisition agents drew even with him, and Evelyn took in his face. He was scarred, a sign of a true warrior, an eye patch wrapped around his head and over his left eye. He had a thin layer of stubble that covered his long jaw, that was thicker on his pointed chin, and his white teeth bared at the Herald in a smile.
"Iron Bull, I presume?" Evelyn said casually, holding out a hand in greeting. She was unprepared when his hand engulfed hers and expected it to be crushed in his grip, but instead he gently shook her hand. She had to nearly hold her head all the way back just to look him in the eyes— or eye?
"The horns usually give it away," he said, nodding his head. "So, you're her, huh? Herald of Andraste."
"The hand usually gives it away," she replied cheekily, and he chuckled at the retort. It was a pleasant rumble in his chest that reminded her a bit of Varric. "My name is Evelyn Trevelyan," she introduced herself properly, and made a gesture behind her at her compatriots. "Lady Seeker Cassandra Pentaghast, Ser Warden Blackwall, my Sera, and Solas, accordingly."
He gave them all a nod and then gestured to a wet rock near the ship the Tevinters had sailed in on. "Come on, have a seat… drinks are coming."
"Bloody well and good," Sera sighed in a relieved tone, ignoring the grunt of disapproval from Cassandra and the scoff of disgust from Solas.
"I assume you remember my lieutenant, Cremisius Aclassi?" Iron Bull said as Krem walked up.
"Throat cutters are done," he announced, then gave a nod to Evelyn with a slight blush on his smooth cheeks. "Herald, glad you made it all right."
"Done already? That's fast. Have them check again, I don't want any of these Tevinter bastards getting away- no offense, Krem," Bull chuckled, and Krem didn't bat an eye.
"At least a Tevinter knows who his mother was," he shot back as he walked away and left them to business. "Puts him one up on you qunari, right?"
Evelyn eyed Bull, waiting for a burst of temper that didn't come. She'd seen qunari before, and knew that they took their precious Qun seriously. This man didn't come across at all like the others she'd seen. There was a word for those that had abandoned the Qun, but she couldn't remember it off the top of her head. Surely Iron Bull was one of those? He just seemed too…. Normal.
"So," Bull said, and Evelyn looked away from the retreating Krem and back at the massive man in front of her. "You've seen what we can do."
Evelyn's eyes looked past him as they took a seat on the rock alongside him, scanning the corpses idly, then looked back up at him. "I'm certainly impressed."
"We're expensive," he acknowledged right away. "But we're worth it."
"How expensive, exactly?" Evelyn's brow furrowed, silently wondering if the Inquisition coffers allowed for such a buy, but the qunari gave a wave of his hand.
"Your ambassador, what's her name- Josephine? She can worry about the payment. You're not just getting the boys- you're getting me. A front line man, a body guard. Whatever you need me for- demons, dragons. The bigger, the better. I just know you're doing good work, and I'd like to be a part of that." He pointed a finger at the Breach, shining as brightly as ever against the pregnant clouds above them. "That's a problem for everyone. And I've been assigned to find out what can be done to stop it."
Evelyn gave a glance at Cassandra, who made a noise of uncertainty in her throat. "Assigned?" the Seeker repeated, raising a questioning eyebrow.
Iron Bull rubbed a hand over his face. "This might piss you off, but…. Have you ever heard of the Ben-Hassrath?"
Another look exchanged between the entire group, and Solas cleared his throat. "The Qun's equivalent of a city guard, or policing force, yes?"
Iron Bull turned his gaze to the elf, inclining his head a bit. "I would lean more towards 'spies', but yeah. That's them… well, us."
"You're a spy… and you told us, just like that?" Sera said suspiciously, taking a step backwards, eyes slits. "That's you slippin' on your job, innit?"
Bull gave her a sly grin. "Not exactly," he replied in a light tone. "Trying to hide something like that from something called ' the Inquisition'? I'd have been tipped, eventually. Better it come from me than someone else." He paused and then sighed heavily. "Even so, if the Qun wasn't interested in your Inquisition and this hole in the sky, I'd personally be interested. So it just works. Magic out of control like that shit?" He gestured at the sky again. "The Ben-Hassrath ordered me to get in with the Inquisition, get close to your top brass, and send them reports on what's happening. But on that same note, I get reports from Ben-Hassrath agents all over Orlais that I'd be willing to share with your people."
Evelyn shifted uncomfortably, not believing she was even entertaining the thought of hiring an admitted qunari spy. "What would you send back in these reports, exactly?"
"Just enough to keep them satisfied. Updates on the situation, nothing that would compromise your organization. The qunari are just wondering if they should launch a full scale invasion to set things right, and if I can send them enough positive reports to keep that from happening, everyone wins."
"What would you tell us?" Cassandra asked from Evelyn's right, obviously not completely sold on this venture. It was a risk, and Cassandra didn't like taking steps forward into an unknown like this man could be, Evelyn knew that.
"Enemy movements, intriguing gossip, it's a little bit of everything. If your spymaster is worth a fuck, she'll put them to good use."
"'She'?" Cassandra asked incredulously, her hand twitching towards her sword, but Iron Bull's genial laugh stayed her pull.
"I might have done a little research," he admitted, holding up his hands. Then he deliberately closed his one eye at the Seeker in what was unmistakably his version of a wink. "Plus, I've always had a thing for red heads."
Wrong red head to pick, honestly. Evelyn shook her head at him, but she couldn't fight off the smile tugging at her lips. She liked this guy already, qunari spy or not. His entire demeanor was laid back, and he was honest. If she needed a body guard, she wouldn't say no to the combination of this massive bulk plus Cassandra's sword skills.
"All right," Evelyn said finally after a brief moment of thought. "You're hired. Now let's get drunk, because what else is there do in this pissing rain?"
A slap on her back from the qunari almost made her fall face first into the surf, but Sera shot an arm out and caught her before she could. "Hell yeah! Krem! You heard the woman! The Chargers were just hired, and the Boss wants a drink!"
"Evelyn, are you forgetting the other reason why we're here?" Cassandra asked stiffly, and Evelyn waved a hand.
"I can scout for Wardens drunk, and deal with those bandits, too. Let me take it for the road, Cass. I'll be a good Herald, I swear."
The Seeker groaned loudly and stomped off, making Sera snicker as Solas strode after her. "Those two need to pull the sticks out of their bums. I believe Cass has it in her, but there's no hope for Baldy."
"That Seeker… she fight as well as she postures?" Iron Bull asked, taking a tankard when Krem brought an arm full over.
"Better," Blackwall grunted, taking one as well. "One of the best swordsmen I've ever sparred with. I can't get the best of her, and believe me, I've tried."
"Responsible to a fault, too," Evelyn sighed, feeling guilty that she was drinking a tank while men were missing. "I really should take this for the road. There's an Inquisition camp settled up on the cliff top. You and your men can camp there, if you'd like."
Iron Bull shook his head. "The boys can go on up, but I'll follow you. I'm curious to see how you handle things."
Evelyn gave a single nod, getting to her feet and tilting back the cup, chugging the entire thing down in one breath, then releasing a belch that made Sera laugh. "That's fair," she conceded. "We should catch up with them."
"Lead the way, Boss," Iron Bull said, raising his tankard in a toast. "On to new horizons, or whatever it is you bas say."
Author's Note.
It is 3:49 in the morning, and me and LanceTrance have been in cahoots for hours to deliver this piece. YOU'D ALL BETTER LIKE IT. I'm kidding, of course. But seriously... this was the most work I've put into editing and discussing and the like out of all ten chapters published, combined. Phew. So glad to hit the save button on this and go publish.
I love you guys. Seriously. Like, a lot.